This summer has played out differently than most, and we’re back from our annual pilgrimage to Canada a lot earlier than usual. As we’ve settled back in to home-sweet-home, reality has set in— summer (and its sweltering temperatures) are far from over.

Yes, even though the first day of school is now less than a week away.

So we’re hanging in the backyard as much as we can, trying to squeeze the last bit of juice out of summer, but also battling the heat and trying to stay cool. Lucky for my squad I thought ahead this past winter, and not only put some new furniture outside (including a double-wide chaise that’s big enough for all of us to cozy up in post-swim) but also had a new Series I fan from Haiku Home installed. It’s a good-looking fixture with lots of smart features, and it’s rated for both indoor and covered outdoor use, so it was perfect to replace the old fan we had on our covered patio. The old fan that it replaced was, a pretty standard home store model. And it did regular-ol’-fan things, like creak and shake at a high speed, and attract tons of dust when it was still.

This one is not only a lot smarter, but it’s handsome as well. One look and you know it’s luxe. And it has a price tag to match, but there’s a lot going on under the hood of this beautifully-crafted, smart device that makes it worth the price tag.

Cool and cute

First of all, no pull chain. BE GONE, useless pull chain! Not only was it unattractive, our fan was up so high you couldn’t reach it anyway!

Next, the finish: I chose a bright white because I wanted it to disappear into the white ceiling of our patio, but there are lots of beautiful wood, metal and artisan finishes if you wanted to go the opposite direction and adorn your “5th wall” with something striking (that’s fan-speak for ceiling). The airfoils (fan-speak for blades) are attractive and inexplicably don’t seem to attract dust in the way the old fan used to— I think the high gloss finish makes it tough to accumulate and easy to wipe away.

Dialing up comfort

The smart fan can be controlled by simply-designed remote that makes it easy to start it up from anywhere… well, almost anywhere. I have found the remote to be a little tough to use unless you’re really near the fan (like, right under it), which in some ways defeats the purpose of the remote, but hey— at least you don’t have to get up from your double-wide chaise to turn it on.

The remote’s settings give you a range of options:

Whoosh mode will mimic an intermittent breeze, and since the fan is so aerodynamic (read: quiet) you won’t mind it whirring up and slowing down to cool you off like nature might.

Sleep mode reduces the fan’s speed every hour until a lower set speed is reached.

Timer mode blows the fan at a set speed until the programmed time ends.

You can also operate it with the Haiku app, which gives you a lot more range to control it. And, bonus for the laziest among us: You can voice-control your Haiku fan with an Amazon Alexa device, like the Echo or Dot— no remote OR phone required.

But why get a smart fan?

Beyond being a handsome, quiet and easily to operate, the smart features are what make it really interesting. The fan’s unique SenseMe technology includes occupancy sensors, and automatically turn on when you enter the room. LOVE. No need to unnecessarily cool an area if no one is there to enjoy it! If we forget to turn off the smart fan, it will do so on its own. I can see this really being helpful in an indoor setting, but it is nice to know that we won’t accidentally leave it spinning outside all night long.

Another feature that’s fantastic for indoors is the partnership the Haiku fan can make with smart thermostats like Ecobee or Nest. In both cases, the fan and the thermostat can work together to determine the most energy-efficient way to cool the room, factoring in occupancy, temperature and humidity, and saving you energy bill money. In my opinion, this type of feature makes Haiku the poster boy for smart home technology: You spend the money on a device like this not because it lets you operate it from a smartphone (yawn!) but because of intelligent partnerships it can have with other smart devices in the home, taking care of you, your expenses, and your family’s needs without you having to do a thing

Is it expensive? Yep. But it’s built beautifully and will be much quieter and run more smoothly than the fan you have now, I promise. And it’s a looker— the modern stylings might not be for everyone, but I really appreciate it’s minimalist look (and the ability for others more bold than I to install something eye-catching.

But the smart features close the deal for me— it’s moments like these when I feel like the smart devices in the house are actually working together to create a truly intelligent home, saving me time, effort and energy. And that’s the whole point of all this stuff— you do your thing, and it all works in the background to make life a little easier.

And breezier.

Thank you, Haiku, for supplying the fan for this story. As always, all opinions are my own.

Post navigation

Hey there.

Thanks for stopping by. I’m all about how to live well and find your center in a hyper-connected, wired world. You’re welcome to hang here anytime, or come find me at The Today Show, HGTV, or The Inspired Home.